Culinary God in Wilderness

The snow-white and tender green scallion slivers went into the pan, instantly letting out a hiss as the moisture evaporated.

Lin Chen, holding the handle with his left hand, quickly tossed the pan a few times, allowing the lamb fat to fully coat the surface of every scallion sliver.

With the help of the high flame, in just over ten seconds, the originally translucent, jade-like scallion slivers developed a layer of seared brown markings, making them look even more appetizing.

The half-cooked lamb slices went into the pan to be quickly stir-fried with the fragrant scallions. The tender pink meat and the white-and-green scallions danced up and down in the air, releasing waves of wonderful aroma.

Tossing a pan in the air using only wrist strength like this was much harder than a normal toss. Luckily, the food in the pan didn’t weigh much, or he really wouldn’t have dared to show off like this.

A wrist injury meant a recovery period measured in years and could even leave a lifelong chronic condition.

As the pan flew up and down, splattering oil was quickly ignited by the open flame.

Orange-red flames suddenly spread into the pan, blazing fiercely. A scorching wave of heat instantly radiated outwards.

A scene they had only ever witnessed on a screen was now unfolding right before their eyes. The shock left the four of them completely speechless.

Ariana, who was closest, subconsciously took a few steps back. If she hadn’t reacted so quickly, she felt she would have been singed by the flames that leaped into the air.

"Wow!!"

Hei clapped excitedly, the last half of a lamb skewer still dangling from his mouth.

"Awesome! This looks awesome!"

"Indeed," Daniel agreed with a nod. "Witnessing it in person is completely different from watching behind a screen. This rolling heat, the aroma wafting through the air... Is this the real way to cook Daxia Cuisine?"

Robert licked the remaining juices from the wooden skewer, still craving more. This delicious grilled meat, a flavor he had never experienced before, had completely captured his heart.

’Honestly, if they hadn’t invited a Great Xia chef onto the show, and I had seen this kind of grilled meat in a mall food court, I absolutely wouldn’t have bought it.’

’I’d never encountered it before and didn’t know what it tasted like. There was no need to take the risk.’

’What if I bought something that tasted bad? Wouldn’t that ruin my whole day?’

’But here, there were no other options. Plus, Andre had already acted as the guinea pig, and every time Lin cooked, people in the livestream chat would praise Daxia Cuisine.’

’It would be a lie to say I wasn’t curious.’

But after tasting it, his first reaction wasn’t joy, but endless regret.

’Great Xia grilled meat is this delicious, so why hadn’t I tried it sooner?’

’Countless times, my friends had invited me to gatherings in Chinatown, and I’d always refused. I always felt the place was a bit dirty and chaotic, seemingly not very safe or sanitary.’

’Only now did I understand why my friends always liked to go there for their get-togethers.’

’The legends about the food of Great Xia being delicious were actually true!’

’If I had just gone once, would things have been different?’

’I’m already forty-six now. How many years have I lost?!’

"SIZZLE—"

As he was enveloped in deep regret, another wave of heat washed over them.

Lin Chen drizzled a little light soy sauce along the edge of the pan. Stimulated by the scorching heat, the soy sauce instantly evaporated into a large cloud of steam, carrying with it some of the residual oil droplets, which were then ignited by the flame.

The searing wave of heat forced the four of them to take another half step back, but Lin Chen, as if completely unaffected, calmly maintained his rhythm of tossing the pan.

The fierce flames in the pan lasted only a few seconds before quietly dying out, leaving behind only thick steam.

He grabbed the packet of cumin powder and tore it open. Rubbing his thumb and index finger together to widen the opening, he sprinkled it in a few seemingly casual circles, then added some sea salt.

He stir-fried it a few more times. Just as the unique aroma of the cumin powder began to spread, he had already removed the pan from the heat.

"Alright, Cumin and Scallion Stir-fried Lamb. In Great Xia, this is a specialty from the northwestern region, a dish invented by the prairie herdsmen."

Hearing that it was ready to eat, the four of them hurried over.

The pan was piled high with thin slices of lamb. Completely different from their previous tender pink hue, the lamb slices now looked like the thin cuts of meat shaved off a shawarma spit, their surfaces stir-fried to an alluring seared brown.

The white and green scallion slivers gave off a faint, sweet fragrance, completely suppressing the lamb’s own subtle gaminess.

They had already experienced the flavor of cumin, but this time it was powdered cumin, not whole seeds. The rich aroma drilled right into their nostrils.

"This smell is a little familiar, isn’t it?"

Hei took several deep sniffs, a look of confusion on his face. "It seems a bit like the taste of Thai fried rice."

"You’re talking about the soy sauce, right?"

Lin Chen held up the soy sauce bottle. "Here, this is it. It’s a condiment made from fermented soybeans. The one you dip sushi in is a specially processed sashimi soy sauce, but their essence is the same. This is an indispensable part of food culture in many Asian countries."

The moment he mentioned sushi, everyone instantly understood.

"Oh, so that’s what it is! I’ve only ever seen it in the little bottles on the table. I didn’t know the big bottles looked like this."

"Can you use this to dip salmon?"

"You can, but I wouldn’t really recommend it," Lin Chen said, nodding and then shaking his head. "Sashimi soy sauce is diluted by simmering it with water, kombu, and seafood products like bonito or silverfish. It’s not as salty, and the umami flavor is more prominent."

"This bottled soy sauce comes in many different versions. The one I have here is light soy sauce, mainly used for making seasonings or for cooking. It might be a bit too salty for dipping sashimi. You could try diluting it with a little water."

Having learned their lesson from the kebabs, they didn’t waste any more time chatting. Unafraid of the heat, they each reached out, grabbed a slice of lamb, and stuffed it into their mouths.

Lin Chen’s mouth twitched. He really wanted to make some sarcastic comment, but he forced himself to hold it back.

’They’ve never even had Daxia Cuisine before; asking them to use chopsticks is clearly impossible. Making forks on the spot would be even more trouble. It’s better to just let them use their hands.’

’Anyway, a lot of prairie cuisine is eaten by hand. Maybe in the place where this dish originated, the guests ate it with their hands, too.’

’It’s a kind of fun in its own way.’

"Oh... God!"

Hei closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

He didn’t say another word, his dark fingers silently reaching for the pan.

"Hey! Wait."

Robert slapped his hand away. His gaze swept over his colleagues’ faces as he said solemnly,

"Don’t forget, we need to divide this dish evenly. If we just grab randomly, who can guarantee it’s fair?"

"That makes sense," Ariana agreed with a nod.

"The slices are different sizes, but thankfully they’re all uniformly thin and roughly the same shape. We definitely won’t be able to divide it accurately ourselves. So, Lin, you do it."

"Me??"

Lin Chen pointed to himself and refused on the spot without a second thought. "No time!"

"I’m only responsible for cooking. That’ll cost extra."